An unnamed parent who has experienced "the devastating consequences of being left in the dark" about his/her "trans identified child" has written the Minnesota Parents Alliance (MPA) a letter expressing concern about the policies implemented at Rochester Public Schools in Minnesota that have to do with keeping parents informed if their minor child decides he or she identifies as the opposite gender.
"It's really sad to see school districts going behind parents' backs and refusing to disclose that a child is undergoing a mental health crisis," comments Moses Bratrud, director of strategy at the Minnesota Family Council.
He says parents and guardians may only be privy to that information if they specifically ask for it in writing.
But as the letter to MPA points out, most parents do not see their child's gender confusion coming, and public schools are "harming students and families by keeping parents at bay while their child struggles."
The schools, the letter states, are "robbing parents of necessary time."
Bratrud agrees and says it wrong.
"Just as with any other potentially harmful behavior, such as self-harm or substance abuse, when a minor child is involved in this, it is not something that the school district should be hushing up and keeping from parents," he contends. "It needs to be disclosed to parents immediately."
According to MPA, the letter was sent to Rochester Public Schools during discussion of its new "Supporting Transgender and/or Gender-Expansive Students" policy, which was approved earlier this month. It permits boys who identify as transgender to use girls' restrooms and locker rooms and allows transgender-identifying boys to share rooms with girls on overnight trips without informing the girls or their parents.
One school board member unsuccessfully attempted to amend the policy to require parental notice, and the school board voted against renewing former school counselor Christina Barton's contract because she urged the district not to embrace of left-wing gender ideology. She was also kicked out of her union.
